Shocking figures show that people living in Southport and Lancashire have some of the lowest disposable income of anywhere in the UK, and the gap with the South is widening.
The latest Office for National Statistics’ regional gross disposable household income figures show that people in the North West had £16,861 per head to save or spend in 2017 after paying tax, lower than any English region except the North East and Yorkshire. While that was an increase of 0.5% on the previous year, with inflation running at 2.6%, their spending power fell in real terms.
People in Sefton had £18,003 per head to live on after tax in 2017 (the latest year for which figures are available), while those in West Lancashire (Chorley and West Lancashire) were left with £17,747.
People in Liverpool, Manchester and Blackburn fared particularly badly. Manchester residents had just £13,355 per head to live on after tax.
By contrast, residents in the London boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Ful- ham – the most affluent areas – had £60,343 per head after tax, more than four times as much. The figures show that disposable income per head is increasing fastest in London (up 2.2% between 2016 and 2017), the South East, and the North East (both 1.3%). For the UK overall, gross disposable house- hold income per head grew by 1%
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